The present invention relates to a door lock permitting easy change in the lock core assembly orientation and, more particularly, to a door lock permitting an assembly orientation of a lock core of the door lock to be adjusted to the correct assembly orientation no matter the door is right-handed or left-handed, such that the orientation of the key inserted by the user is the same.
Doors are classified into left-handed type and right-handed type according to the type of the wall separating spaces. A left-handed door has a side end pivotably mounted to a door frame, and a door lock is mounted to a right side of the left-handed door, permitting opening and closing by the right side of the left-handed door. A right-handed door has a right side pivotably mounted to a door frame, and a door lock is mounted to a left side of the right-handed door, permitting opening and closing by the left side of the right-handed door. A pivotal direction of a lock core of the door lock mounted to the left side of the door is opposite to a pivotal direction of a lock core of the door lock mounted to the right side of the door, such that the orientation of the keyway of the lock core of the door lock mounted to the left side of the door is opposite to the orientation of the lock core of the door lock mounted to the right side of the door. Thus, the direction of rotating a key for unlocking the door lock could be different, too.
Replaceable figure 8-shaped lock cores have been proposed by manufacturers to solve this problem. Specifically, two keys are provided for a figure 8-shaped lock core, one of which can be used to unlock the door lock, and the other can be used to detach the lock core from the door lock to permit a change in the assembly orientation of the lock core. However, the cross sections of the figure-8 shaped lock cores are not circular, such that the cross sections of a compartment for receiving the lock core is not circular, either. Thus, in addition to detaching the lock core, the outer handle must be detached from the door lock for changing the assembly orientation of the lock core. Namely, the outer handle is reassembled to the correct direction (i.e., the opposite direction), and the lock core is recoupled to the outer handle. Furthermore, to achieve an anti-theft effect, the outer handle cannot be directly detached unless the components in the inner handle are detached. Thus, the assembly orientation of the lock core cannot be changed when only the lock core is detached, leading to insufficient utility.